Paški Sir Cheese

About

Paški sir (cheese from the Island of Pag) is a hard, limited product Ewes' milk cheese from the Croatian Island of Pag. The unique flavor is derived from the autochthonous breed of Pag sheep who are kept free on the rocky pastures and graze on the wild fragrant herbs of the island. Paški Sir is in the process of becoming a Protected Denomination of Origin product.

Selecting and Buying

Choosing: Younger Paški Sir is much more golden in colour. Fully matured Paški Sir is a light brown colour.

Buying: Widely available in Croatia. Cheese Hamlet in Didsbury, Manchester. Will confirm other British Delis.

If you know a deli who might like to supply Paški Sir then email to www.gligora.com simon.kerr@gligora.com

Preparation and Use

Serving and Cutting Paški Sir
Before serving Paški Sir it needs to be taken from the fridge and left at room temperature, ideally for one hour. This will help to develop the fullness of its flavour. Slice the cheese into triangles and present on a tray or plate, carefully avoiding contact with any serving accompaniments, such as smoked meats that could obscure the taste. We recommend that the rind is left on.

Cleaning: It is desirable to rub the cheese with a cloth dampened with olive or vegetable oil to prevent excessive drying and the growth of mould. I

Conserving and Storing

Preservation of Paški Sir as a whole cheese is best in a cellar or the coldest and darkest room of your house. It is best to place the cheese onto a wooden or plastic board and turn it several times a week. Whilst turning, it is desirable to rub the cheese with a cloth dampened with olive or vegetable oil to prevent excessive drying and the growth of mould. Ideal conditions for storing Paški Sir would be at temperatures between 12° and 16° with a relative humidity between 75% and 85%. This will keep your Paški Sir maturing nicely and will keep like this for over a year.

Social/Political

The Island of Pag has a mild continental climate due to the close proximity of the beautiful mountain range Velibit with its cold snowy peaks. Pag is the most indented island in the Adriatic which provides perfect conditions for cheese making. The Island of Pag has a long tradition of cheese making and agriculture.

Hot and cold air amasses high on the mountain tops and particularly in winter, gives birth to the famous Pag Bura. A strong, cool, dry wind that gathers strength as it tumbles down the southern slopes of Velibit onto the calm seas. Here it creates a beautiful scenery of tiny sea droplets swirling in the air, not unlike dust devils dancing on the surface of the water. The Bura then dries and turns into dry salt dust, which it then scatters all over the Island of Pag, turning it into a beautiful white salty Island. The salt dust becomes wet when it falls onto the vegetation, as if it was thrown upon it as boiling water, and in these conditions upon the rocky hills of the Island of Pag, only the extremely resilient and aromatic plant species will survive. The best known and most precious is the fragrant Paška Sage, there are numerous colonies of this purple flowered plant which adorn the pure white limestone in May, and fill the air with its scent.

In 1774, the travel writer Alberto Fortis, on his way to Dalmatia, wrote about Pag’s products of sea salt, sage honey, wool and Paški Sir. Until early in the 20th century, the inhabitants of Kolan had their own dry stone huts in which they milked the sheep and made Paški Sir. These stone houses are adorned in sedge and reeds from the nearby fields, the huts were built out of town on the rocky hills above the pastures.

The majority of the pastures are located on the hilly parts of the island and are recognisable in that they are surrounded by dry stone walls. From far off, the intricate stone walls resemble the famous Pag Lace (Paški Čipka) as they traverse the rocky summits. But back then there was no private ownership of the pastures and the sheep freely grazed on all the land.

History: The Shepherds kept watch of the sheep and in the stone huts milked them and made Paški Sir. By this time the pastures were slowly becoming privately owned, so the Shepherds moved back into the town of Kolan and their stone huts became pastoral homes. As the Shepherds commuted to and from the pastures to care for the sheep, the women of Kolan assumed the role of cheese makers. Paški Sir slowly but surely gained importance not only as a food for the locals but also as a commodity to market across Croatia and became an it important source of income.

This was a time when agriculture began to establish cooperatives between Kolan and other villages of the Island such as Novalja, Pag and Povljana, which brought Paški Sir from the household into the markets. Yet the production of milk, cheese making and its maturing were all under conditions that with out an expert, could not answer the strict legal criteria of food in traffic.

Author

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Comments

That's a tough one, Diana. I've looked online and was unable to find any companies that sell paski sir. I would look for a large cheese purveyor and ask if they can special order it for you. Good luck!

Paški Sir is widely available in Croatia and in selected Delicatessens in the UK. If you know of anywhere (any country at all) that might be interested in stocking Paški Sir then please write to simon.kerr@gligora.com

Paški Sir is widely available in Croatia and in selected Delicatessens in the UK. If you know of anywhere (any country at all) that might be interested in stocking Paški Sir then please write to simon.kerr@gligora.com

That's a tough one, Diana. I've looked online and was unable to find any companies that sell paski sir. I would look for a large cheese purveyor and ask if they can special order it for you. Good luck!

After a wonderful hike through the archipelago of Dalmatia
with Country Walkers last summer, I returned hoping to order
some Posip wine and Paski Sir cheese here in USA. I found both.
The cheese
came from diBruno Bros. (online) and I would recommend them.